One Direction Battling Adele, Bruce Springsteen for Chart Dominance

10:17 PM PDT 3/16/2012 by Keith Caulfield, Billboard

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The British boy band is set to unseat Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball," though early numbers show it in a close race with Adele's resilient "21."

The U.K. pop group One Direction is aiming for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart next week with its first album, Up All Night. However, Adele's 21 may block the quintet from the top with a return to No. 1.

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Presently, industry sources suggest Up All Night may sell around 160,000 to 170,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, March 18. However, Adele's 21 could sell right around the same amount.

How the albums perform over the weekend will play a large part in their placing on the chart next week. Even if One Direction settles for a No. 2 bow, it will make history as the highest debut from U.K. group's first album.

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The new Billboard 200 chart's top 10 will be revealed on the morning of Wednesday, March 21.

Theoretically, both albums could profit from the weekend and family shopping at big box stores like Target and Walmart.

Adele -- believe it or not -- is still being discovered by thousands of people each week. And her Grammy performance is still fresh in the average consumer's mind.

On the other hand, when families are out doing their weekly shopping on Saturday and Sunday, you can picture young kids bugging their parents to buy the One Direction album as they pass by a display at Target.

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On Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart, One Direction is at No. 1 while Adele is in the runner-up slot. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking -- reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week as reported by six major merchants.

As for the rest of the top 10 on the Building chart, Bruce Springsteen's current Billboard 200 No. 1, Wrecking Ball, is No. 3 while the "Now 41" compilation is at No. 4. Passion Worship's new White Flag set is No. 5 while Gotye's Making Mirrors and Fun.'s Some Nights are Nos. 6 and 7, respectively. The Project X soundtrack is No. 8, Drake's Take Care is No. 9 and Rihanna's Talk That Talk is at No. 10.